Back around 1969, me and two of my mates decided on a week-end away from our home in South Devon to see the London Motor Show. The other two were mechanics, whereas I was in electronics. The car belonged to one of my friends,and was a grey A40 - exactly as shown here! However, it had seen better days, to put it mildly! Shortly before we departed, the clutch failed. Being impecunious, instead of fitting the correct one, a second hand one from a Leyland van was fitted. It worked, but the load on the clutch pedal was horrendous. Add in weak - or almost non-existent - synchromesh on 2nd and 3rd and a broken safety catch to prevent the accidental selection of reverse when aiming for second, and you get some idea of the challenge ahead! I was the only one to have driven in London before, so was nominated for the final stretch between Reading and London. On the dual carriageway on the way in, we came across a Mk2 Jag that was in even worse condition than our Austin! At the behest of the owner, I floored it, and at the staggering speed of 55 MPH, we slowly overhauled the Jag! I will never forget the sight of the wings bouncing up and down in anti-phase to the bonnet, and the large chunk of Isopon filler rattling around in the hole in the wing! By the time we got to Hyde Park underground car park, my ankle was so swollen from working that clutch in London traffic, that I couldn't walk for about half an hour! The journey back was even more dramatic, as after an hour or so on the road, the oil light came on, and the engine was making very nasty noises from the bottom end. The two mechanics were seriously discussing dropping the sump at the roadside and removing the shells! I had a search in the boot, and found a large tin of axle grease. We shovelled it into the engine, the oil light went out, and it ran like a Rolls-Royce! We got home about 4 in the morning. The next day I discovered that the owner had dumped it outside the scrapyard and walked home from there! Happy days! Its a miracle we survived to adulthood! :)

@69Phuket

3 ай бұрын

Good Times Bare fact you recount this is testimony to that ;)

@benmarsden7655

3 ай бұрын

Great story!

So much better than that electric Kia thing. This old Austin has lasted almost 70 years and still going strong. More of this please.

Somehow, this one managed to survive the banger racing era.

My parents rented an A40 Cambridge on their European honeymoon in 1955. My father hated it and complained that he struggled to get it into reverse. One day they stopped at a lookout to take a break, when they went to leave, try as he might he couldn’t get reverse just first. Each time he tried the car crept closer to the cliff edge. On the last try hey removed all their luggage and he left the driver’s doors open so he could jump out as he feared it would go over. But it finally caught reverse gear and disaster was averted. He dined out on that story his whole life.

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

Ive driven a later Austin which would not go into reverse for love nor money, when I had to turn it around I actually got out and pushed! If the cables arent adjusted perfectly they can be very tricky

Safety an afterthought... no seatbelts, no child seats either. I remember as a little kid going with my dad somewhere in his A40 and standing up on the front passenger seat so I could look out of the windscreen and feast my eyes on the grim rainswept cobbled streets of industrial Yorkshire.

The Austin badge on the middle of the dashboard was a cover that hid an aperture for the 'optional' extra clock. It looked classy when fitted but not many were prepared to pay for it judging by the fact that I have yet to see a Cambridge of this type fitted with one. It was a decent car for early-mid 1950s, and I recall seeing many of them rushing around and coming to a quick halt at traffic lights etc in the 50s. So they must have had some poke!

@gingernutpreacher

2 ай бұрын

My dad had one in 1957 at 17 (brought by his parents) as a taxi for his mum. But with out wheel spin he burnt off a police car from the traffic lights up to 30 and the police man gave him a fine for dangerous parts and accessories because the door trim was falling off. There is another stories when he part ext it for a mini. Edit I know belive it was a a55 not a a40

@gbentley8176

2 ай бұрын

Still have the original clock from my Aunts A40 in working order. It saw years of service in a caravan!

@wordsmith52

2 ай бұрын

@@gbentley8176 Keep it safe! Must be worth a bit to a collector or A40 restorer!

That transparent gearknob is a work of art.

@TheClockwise770

3 ай бұрын

They could have put a little deer or fish inside as they did with cutlery in the 1950s

@69Phuket

3 ай бұрын

Aids with visibility. Austin thought of everything. Well, almost!

@glynjones2540

3 ай бұрын

I think current Volvos have the same but in very superior crystal glass.

@rais1953

Ай бұрын

Ours had an insert showing the gear positions.

I had an A50 in about 1965 , it looked the same as the A40 but had a 1500 engine. They were tested in Germany and could get up 80mph plus. There is a video on KZread showing it. I liked it more than my previous Morris Minor.

I can completely understand your reluctance to give the car back, a super little car that's practical too. It's in great condition too considering the age and that column shift looks like a right hoot. The engineering behind that gear change must have been a challenge though I guess. Many thanks for sharing. Things were so much simpler back then when you could fix the car at the roadside. As much as I appreciate the modern stuff the separate support computers required to keep them on the road will themselves become obsolete making modern cars a bigger challenge in the next decades to keep on the road.

A40 'Cow Hip' - bought one of these for £8 from a well known scrap yard in Battersea SW London in the late 70's as a stop gap for my dad to use for a month before taking delivery of a new Citroen Dyane - It was rock solid, very low mileage in Battle Ship Grey with blood red leather interior, we ended up keeping it for 5 trouble free years.

An old friend of mine drove his Mum's old 1958 two tone blue Cambridge saloon in year 11 . his dodge was "Teaching" Girls to drive..Worked a treat......Couldn't get it over 52 MPH.....

This takes me back! In 1968 I had a '57 A55, the pre-Farina model, which was in essence very similar to this A40. Perfectly adequate for what it was and lots of character. Modern cars might be more efficient but, by comparison, they're soulless.

Mortality taught you to drive back then. Good Times! And the music was ace cafe!

Two colleagues had A50s in period and both traded them for F-type Victors which we all thought were vastly superior. Of course we'd never heard of rust then!

@gbentley8176

2 ай бұрын

Joke going round then was; the paint is thicker than the metal.;

Had a Renault 16 with a column change, loved it, Austin is as old as me sadly.

@660einzylinder

3 ай бұрын

16's were great cars.

@strassenbahnfilmguy9306

3 ай бұрын

​@@660einzylinderAlso had an R16 .. gee the older cars were fun to drive .

That's so cool with all the patina and wear. Makes me want a classic from that era

Our first family car was one of the 60 years ago. I still remember it was 937 CRA, same car in black with the ox blood interior. No heater in winter we used travel rugs. It was garaged and my Dad always dried it after any rain. Came up lovely using the tinned Simoniz wax, I still use the stuff nowadays. When he got rid of it we had a Hillman Minx next.

My parents had one of the first of these assembled by BMC in Australia but the B series engine was bigger for Australia, 1500 cc and it was sold as the Cambridge A50. It handled country roads in rural Australia surpringly well although it lacked the power of GM Holden's 2.1 litre 6 cylinder car. The next model had a remodeled rear, the A55 then the stylish Farina styled A60.

Loveley car and nearly 70 hears old! True survivor from a different era. I love the column change, going back to the days when you and the car were truly engaged with each other. Modern cars feel so sterile compared to this little superstar.

Great memories. These were really good workhorse cars. Column changes though were considered very American but they worked ok. My Aunt had an A50 which was equipped with a complete picnic table fitted out from the boot end. Made by the local Coach garage. Seem to recall some Austins of this period had a parking light system to illuminate just the offside presumably to save the battery.

Very cool very charming. How could you not love any Cambridge??

The "A" on the lower control panel stands for Air , turning it clockwise increases the airflow into the cabin at least it does on mine!

In 1962 we had a family holiday to Italy in our A40. It got us there and back although had trouble coping with the summer heat around Turin.A memorable trip before any motorways, we crossed the alps over the St. Bernard pass. Of all my family cars our A40 Cambridge is the most fondly remembered .

I love the gear shift. What a fantastic little car 🤩

An uncle {by marriage} had one of these. Also, a green Morris Cowley, the somewhat posher but slightly insane brother to the Oxford, and latterly a Rover P4 110, at which point our families lost touch, owing to the death of my grandfather, half brother to the aforesaid uncle's wife.

A very good attractive styling in its day.

I do love a nice column change. We had a Mazda pickup back in the 1980's B1800 or 2000 I think and used to drive it out of preference over the newer floorchange pickups.

My late dad had a used Austin A40 Cambridge in Australia when I first went to school. I think it was black. Being a fan of BMC vehicles, his first new car in 1965 was a black Morris 1100. I remember him doing all the servicing of the cars himself in the carport at our house. Occasionally if something didn't go right, a spanner might go flying! I used to watch him change the oil, grease the grease nipples, check the tyres, and adjust the timing. However, I never picked up many of his skills. Seeing this video brings back a lot of memories.

My neighbour swapped his A50 for an Allegro in the early 1970’s, poor chap still regrets it now!

My Grandparents had Morris 8s and Austin Somersets in the late 1950s and early 60s. This was amazingly hi-tech to them. It's interesting that much of the interior fittings survived with the Farinas into 1971. Also the "cow hip" styling. The odd looks of the Morris 1800 are partly down to this as a "family" styling cue - that went through to 1975.

A charming little car Matt, simple basic motoring that would have been what most motorists wanted in the 50's. Nowadays we want the latest tech in cars, so it's nice to have a little throwback to yesteryear.

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

It’s quite refreshing not to have any tech to bother with in a car after all the modern interventions

@Mitch-Hendren

3 ай бұрын

I'd argue that extra features are forced on us to justify the high price. I for one would change for a newer car , if there was something plain and simple available .the nearest to that was the original base level Dacia logan estate. Unfortunately dropped in the uk . I'll stick with my boring but reliable 1998 corolla . For as long as i can keep up with the welding.

Great video. Look forward to the next

Amazing to think the Citroen DS came out in 1956- light years ahead in design.

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

yes, an incredible difference in technology and style...but that was freakishly good compared to everything else!

@steveworth544

3 ай бұрын

@@furiousdriving |I've got one- it is lovely. My Uncle Les had one of those Austins and it looked really dated against Dad's Vauxhall Victor (a 1958 or thereabouts I think) but is was about 10 years old then and already riddled with rust, whereas the Austin looked fine.. That looks a nice old and loved car though.

@davidhayes4814

3 ай бұрын

But the DS was very much more expensive and had equally ancient engines.

@steveworth544

3 ай бұрын

@@davidhayes4814 Very true, They ran out of money so it did not get the air cooled flat 6 that was intended.

I think it looks a lot better than the A60 that my great uncle had

That took be back to the 1960’s. My grandfather on my mothers side had one from new in black with red leather and it was the revised model with external filler flap. He died in 1970 and my uncle inherited and started using it as a works van. Within eighteen months it was a wreck and subsequently scrapped circa 1971. I always liked the handbrake and gearshift on the column. Coincidentally my Scottish grandfather owned an immaculate A35 during the same timeframe.

What a car Matt 👌🏻 so beautiful and typically British , love it 👍🏻

My first car was very neatly a 67 A60 Cambridge. Always a soft spot for them. Unfortunately my Farina suffered terminal rot. This old girl runs a treat. Fantastic to see. Well done, Matt.

Should have gone to a diner Mr Furious. Lovely wee car

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

Not many in that area!

WOW ! did that take me back a lot of years! My Grandfather bought one of these hear in Australia brand new after he died my Mother his daughter inherited it and learnt to drive in it .I can remember my father removing the dust cover off it in the garage and then making multiple attempts to obtain reverse gear which everyone that drove that car had trouble finding as it was a weird set up of pulling the stick out side ways then pushing down to engage I later learned to drive the car myself and found it a bitch of a thing lol The car was the same grey colour as on the dash of your black version which I think may have been repainted black at some stage , the roof was made high so as men and women that wore a hat in those days could be accommodated for ..thanks for sharing.

Another great review Matt, thoroughly enjoy these! I just Great car and history behind it.

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

1/4 lights , column shift , under-dash handbrake and a B series engine asp .. what's not to like

My dad used to have an Austin Cambridge from his university days in the 60s which was green and mind you that was in Egypt.

Lovely old car 😊

nice little car a good runner, dont think i would get used to column change though i have an Austin A30 from 1955 similar but smaller

Hiya Matt. What a lovely wee beasty that A40 is! There were very few of them imported down here. NZ didn't have a full-on incorporated CKD factory setup until the BL era (or thereabouts) and although some assembly was being done in Auckland by Seabrook-Fowlds, in Wellington by the Austin Distributors Federation and other similar low volume assemblers around the country, a lot of the vehicles were still imported fully assembled. We had the Devon and the Somerset (my favourite A40 - largely because it looked like the A30's big brother) and of course, the Farina. Of the four models, the Farina was the most plentiful, then the Devon, the Somerset and the Cambridge. Most of the Cambridges we had were A50s ('54-'56) and then the elongated tail, bigger back windowed A55 came along in '57. I had the joy of owning a one owner, genuine and documented 50,000 mile A55 that had been brought to NZ with its owner when he and his wife migrated here from Old Blighty in 1970. Dad picked it up in 1984 and as he'd not done anything with it by 1987, I asked if I could buy it from him after I'd had a couple of vehicles unexpectedly write my own car off for me one evening. The A55 was immaculate inside and had almost every extra that 1957 could throw at it - lockable glovebox, clock (that goes where the beautiful Flying A badge is above the radio slot), a valve radio (MW and SW with embossed Austin logo on the dial), Smiths glass-bottle windscreen washers, heater (like what was in the A40 in the video), fresh air vent (that was inducted up through a bonnet cowling under the centre Flying A emblem and in through the heater vent), fog lights, auxiliary trouble lamp, leather upholstery - and I mean proper leather - Austin-embossed blue nobbled-rubber floor mats front and rear, Austin-embossed seat covers for the front (blue vinyl back and sides with a hessian-based woven blue cloth insert).....and wonder of wonders - seat belts! She also had twin horns of the "get out of my way" variety, a manually-engaged reserve fuel tank, a full tool kit, over-riders, twin wing mirrors and two-tone paint (OE White over dark blue over OE White) with the lightning strike chrome trim on the front wings. The only extra she did NOT seem to have was the optional overdrive, but that wasn't an issue. She still did 60-65 quite happily on the open road and cruised well as long as the dampers were topped up. (By the way - the little chrome ring around the inner rear door handles on the A40/50/55 is an early form of kiddie-lock. If you rotate it with the tabs one way, the inside handle does not move but will still open from the outside.) I absolutely loved that car and went everywhere in it. She loved the unsealed roads and was so easy to control if I drifted her around the corners. The beast never got stuck on the clay of the upper Coromandel ranges either and we used to pull more modern cars out of trouble with ease. She had a first gear that would climb the side of a three storey building or a wet grassy hillside up to where the caravans were on my parents' section where we went for holidays. She got into areas that had some four wheel drives having second thoughts about - that gearing and the torque of the engine could get us anywhere. She was happy on urban roads as much as the rutted tracks of the Coromandel s well and would dress up nice with a bath and some linseed oil (yes, I was doing the patina look back in the '80s long before it ever became popular!) because her paintwork was so crazed that polishing it just made it disappear. My dates liked the old girl too - the big leather seats that were nearly a single bench seat in front, were just wonderful for driving while snuggling....and the soft leather rear seat could be removed and leant up against the car to watch sunsets on...among other things. The old radio played more that 1950s do-wop as well as the SW band picked up a couple of the FM stations and there was still a couple of MW stations that played what we liked to hear. I would have kept it but for my father's stern words that I was "only to litter the driveway with one heap of s**t at a time", so after buying my next car - an Alfasud Sprint Veloce - the A55 had to go. I had 28,000 happy miles in the beast and apart from getting the rear springs retentioned, replacing the odd bush or several, replacing the complete exhaust system (after it fell off and got run over), replacing the Zenith with a brand new NOS Zenith and giving it a valve grind and reseat at 65,000 miles, she only needed the regular maintenance items (and plenty of grease) to keep her happy, on the road and clocking up the miles. She ran so well, with good compression and no smoke, that I reckoned that old 1489cc B-series would have rolled the hundred thou and just kept on going when I moved her on at a little over 78,000 on the clock. Unfortunately, the new owner ran it for about a year and then found a power pole while going sideways. Didn't help that he was three sheets to the wind either.....poor old car. She'd reached just short of 91,000...... I'd happily own another one if I could find another two-tone in similar condition...but they are very thin on the ground nowadays for some reason...... Ah well, one can dream, eh? All the best!

NICE MEMORIES.

Lovely little car. A Mr Spackman who my Dad did some gardening for had one and back in the mid 80's was used daily. It was spotless and well looked after. Seeing this video, I'm now thinking what happened to it.

The Austin bade in the centre of the dash is a blanking plate too, for a clock

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

so many blanking plates..and only one sun visor!

Very nice video, I just like these old British cars :) what I find interesting is that this one misses the characteristic transmission whine of the BMC/Leyland cars o_O even the A55 you tested 3 years ago had a very vocal transmission-

The chasis-less design must of been a test before the production of the Mini ,shame we don't have any innovative british build cars anymore BL was special .

My 1st car was Column change, a lot better than floor… I did modify a pivot position to allow for ware to get the up down function working up to my standard lol.. 😊

Austin Cambridge and Furious Driving does not compute. 😃

Very nice It’s old….but not completely different….apart from that 4 on the tree. I’ve never driven a column change car. I’ve seen 3 on the tree, 1st was away and down. My folks used to have a Vauxhall victor 1960s - there’s had the new 4 on the floor, but the book mentioned a “traditional 3 speed column change” as an alternative. Who would have driven a car like this? Would it have been people like my parents with their Vauxhall viva and victor? Light up turn signal stalk….must have been like magic! No side mirrors 😬

Great video, a very familiar exhaust note and only one sun visor.

@AJ-qn6gd

3 ай бұрын

I’m sure a second sun visor would have been available as an option lol !

This was the 1st car I bought in 1969 paid £40. for it for 2 years loved it, always did like a column change, sold it to a friend of mine for the same money

@mickc7388

3 ай бұрын

Ditto for me, the seller knocked ME down to 35 quid.

Some Japanese-made cars of the same era were strikingly similar to this one (e.g., Toyopets and Nissan/Datsuns).

Safety was not an afterthought but manufacturers believed that it was the driver's responsibility, safety features were not required if one didn't drive like a lunatic.

My dad had one in the early 60's

I saw heaps of these in NZ as a kid, but they were all A50s., and of course he slightly longer-tailed A55. Never an A40...

I love these and many others. I drive old cars I have a 54 year old Bentley T1 1970 a 1999 T reg Lexus 300gs and a 2000 reg Jaguar XJ8 both passed M.O.T. last week. I can afford a new luxury car but why buy a car that many look like square vans with windows. There is no style or individuality in cars of today.

Remember them well. Simple basic family transport, but yeah, I think the 1.5 would have been more desirable.

It's charming 😄

@graham104e

3 ай бұрын

It sure is. Love it.

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

It worked on me, it was so sweet!

Forgot to say, I think that the early Hillman Avengers could be a challenger for tiniest, most basic instrument cluster.

Cars of this era were designed to survive the unmade roads throughout the Empire so Britains mostly paved roads were a breeze for them 👍🏻🇬🇧

We had A60 panel vans and pickups here too, based on the original shape of that thing, with a different grille, and the 1622cc engine. They rusted like bastards, so If they existed in the UK, I bet you couldn't find one...

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, so either we never had them or they’ve all rotted!

I would have thought back then the door cards would have been rexine rather than vinyl.

@TrustyMechanicUK

2 ай бұрын

You are correct,as are the seats- it's my car by the way

Base model ? It’s got a heater ! Shear opulent luxury!

Basic motoring at its best. Better than a Ford Pop.

@660einzylinder

3 ай бұрын

But considerably more expensive, the Austin cost £650 when launched, the Ford was £390.

@williamwade641

3 ай бұрын

@@660einzylinder Of course it was, the Ford was the cheapest car around at the time.

Fixed steering wheel hub/horn push

My other car is a Cupra!

My 6 year old son said “I remember those”. I think he is referring to a car on Beam NG drive but it made me laugh.

Base spec models have more charm than the tarty versions. The colour of a wet Sunday afternoon, with full ennui trim. Less successful in appearance than the earlier Counties Austins or the later Farina, but a timepiece all the same.

Did u use the tea shelf?

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

Serious lack of teas shelf ability in this one

Was that not an A50? My father had an A40 delux in the mid 1950s with a speedometer limited to 80 mph. I think the A50 and of course the A55 had the one seen here of 90 mph. This looked like a basic model with no passenger sun visor but I wonder if the engine was 1200 or 1500? It seemed quite sprightly for a 1200 A40!

@TrustyMechanicUK

2 ай бұрын

It is most definitely an A40

1955 ,VW build and Sold in one week more VW Beetle as austin in one year.

As a mini cab driver born in 1983 I could not imagine driving one of them for 10/ 12 hours. Talk about a work out 😂 I didn't even think that mini cabs existed back then?

@furiousdriving

3 ай бұрын

oh yers, look at the Glam Cabs at Goodwood and Carry on Cabby

@mick0846

3 ай бұрын

@@furiousdriving I will do

Yipee she's a honey.

A50=55

😂 is like soviet car. I don't know Stalin sold cars in UK

@chrisweeks6973

3 ай бұрын

The Skoda Octavia was sold in the UK around this time. I used the seats from one in '64 to replace the terrible seats in my '56 Ford Thames 300E van. The Skoda seats were far better.

british car branding was so utterly confusing

The A90 was better I had one in 1965